Sage Cortez
Well, we have a packed schedule this time, as I review matches from Jim Crockett Promotions July & August months in 1986. A lot of good stuff happened here, so it turns out that September’s activity will be pushed into a later article. Of note is that Jim Cornette begins to host these shows along with Tony and David, at some point in here. And he’s absolutely great at it. Let’s go straight into the first match of the bunch!
– July 5th, 1986, from Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina
Ricky Morton vs. Ric Flair in a STEEL CAGE MATCH for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is one of the matches from The Great American Bash Tour that did not make the video tape, nor any of the television shows around the time period (as far as I know). Instead it made a WWE DVD, and I’m really looking forward to checking this out. The buildup for this match has been outstanding, possibly the best build for any of the matches on this tour. Flair’s entrance, made from a helicopter, is amazing.
Match Review: There isn’t any commentary for this match, which gives it a different feel. Morton is wearing a mask on his face, so it’s obvious what’s going to happen at some point, and I’m okay with that as well. Morton trades shots with Flair at the start, and Flair wants to run away as per his usual, but there’s nowhere to go. That happens again, which causes Morton to pull Flair’s trunks nearly all the way down as Flair climbs the cage. GROSS. That takes Flair into the corner where he gets punched, and fortunately his trunks go back to their place. Morton tries a backslide on Flair which gets 2, and Flair screams at Tommy Young, and gets pushed to the canvas afterward. That made no sense, haha. Morton punches Flair a lot after that, and he grabs Flair by his nose, hurting him. Flair responds with some chops, and gets punched in the face a lot again. Morton’s mask falls off shortly after, and Flair rushes over to grab it and presumably throw it out of the ring, but Morton gets there first and rolls him up for a 2 count. Morton also puts his mask back on, then puts Flair in a headlock. Flair replies with a shin-breaker, but that doesn’t cause Morton to let go of the hold. An elbow by Flair does, and now I think he’s getting in control. Only he doesn’t, and a Morton bodypress gets 2. Flair hip-tosses Morton out of the corner though, only to be given a clothesline for 2. Morton misses an elbow drop now, and Flair rips off Morton’s mask so that he can toss him into the cage. Well now. Business has just picked up. Morton is bleeding after being thrown into it again, and Flair puts on his stupid little face mask. HAHA. That’s heeling brother. Out of the cage that stupid mask goes, and Flair grinds Morton’s face into the top rope. Morton sells a punch like death, and Flair then grinds his face into the fence. Ow. Flair launches Morton into the fence again, and he really should go for the pin, but instead he gives Morton a knee drop. Flair continues prior activity and rams him into the cage yet again. This is all very good heat building for later. Morton basically sells all the way around the ring for Flair, and gets covered for 2. Flair follows with a backbreaker, which also gets a 2 count. Morton’s face is very bloody now, so Flair is just gonna taunt his way around the ring like a true asshole. Flair suplexes Morton, and I guess it’s time for the FIGURE-FOUR. He locks it in, and everyone assumes it’s over because Morton is just ruined at this point. Flair cheats repeatedly during the hold by grabbing the ropes, and Tommy Young finally catches him. So, Flair breaks the hold, and walks over to talk trash to Morton. It’s strange seeing Flair get in this much offense against anyone! Morton catches him with a small package for 2, which should show Flair to be a little bit more careful. But, I’m not sure that it will, because he still treats Morton like a boy. Morton is finally start some sort of a comeback, and he’s going to do that by punching Flair a lot and then ramming him into the cage! Flair isn’t so big now that this is happening to him. Morton climbs to the top rope, and decides to ram Flair’s face into the cage now. The champion is bloody, but Morton does not care at all, he takes Flair to the corner and punches him a ton of times. Flair misses an inverted atomic drop, and gets punched, which knocks him down. Morton is on fire now, and rams Flair’s face into the canvas. Morton puts a sleeper on Flair, but to no avail, because Flair gets out of it by reaching the ropes. So Morton rams his head into the cage. Is that to avail? I can’t tell. Morton heads up to the top rope once again, this time to leap off with a flying bodypress. Cover gets 2. Flair tries to climb out of the cage, and once again Morton grabs his trunks, preventing him from doing so. Flair gets knocked down after some punches, and Morton comes off with a flying punch for 2. None of these nearfalls are that near, really. Flair gets thrown into the cage yet again, and Morton says he’s going to win the belt. He falls for Flair’s trick of walking into the corner, but fights his way out and heads up top again for a missile dropkick. Cover gets 2, and Flair kicks out by throwing Morton on top of Tommy Young. Well, some shit’s about to happen for sure. Flair crotches Morton on the top rope, goes for a cover with his feet on the ropes, and gets the pinfall victory at 23:15. Haha, what a cheating bastard.
My Thoughts: Unfortunately, Morton didn’t really have the offense to get me super invested into the match, because when a guy is obviously not going to win, they have to pull out some stuff that makes you believe. Morton did not do that. This was a very good match, but nothing spectacular. Didn’t hit the next level, if you will. But the build was top notch, so nobody can complain about how this worked out. ***1/2. Recommended, but not totally necessary, to be honest. I was hoping for a bit more.
– July 12th, 1986, on World Championship Wrestling, from Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina
Wahoo McDaniel vs. Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon for the NWA National Heavyweight Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Now this is an old school matchup. It’s a rarity that we’re out of the studio for the TBS show, but here we are! This is a nice matchup, so I want to watch it. That’s hardly surprising.
Match Review: Wahoo and Tully lock up, with Wahoo giving Tully a hip-toss. He lands some hard chops on the champion, causing Tully to fall out of the ring. Once he gets back in, they trade chops, and Wahoo gets the better of that by some distance. He covers for 2, and we go to commercial.
Wahoo has Tully in a chinlock when we come back, but Tully breaks free to the outside. Tully comes back in and lands some kicks on the challenger, but Wahoo reverses things into a wristlock. That was nicely done. Wahoo is pretty pissed about something, so he takes Tully over to the corner and leathers him with some chops. Back to the chinlock Wahoo goes, and Tully is bleeding. Don’t know what from. Tully breaks that hold with a knee to Wahoo’s face, and goes to work. He lands some elbows and stuff, then covers for 2. Cornette brings up the point that it’s hot in the arena. Yes, it probably is VERY hot in the arena. Tully tries a suplex on Wahoo, but it gets reversed and that probably hurt. Wahoo lands an elbow drop for 2, and Tully slithers to the outside once again. Wahoo chases him around the ring, until he whacks Wahoo in the head with a forearm. Into the post Wahoo goes, and he gets back in the ring, but Tully pounces right on top of him and puts a chinlock on Wahoo. He cheats by placing his feet on the rope during it, then Wahoo gets his foot on the rope as well to break. Wahoo fires off an atomic drop after that, and chops Tully for a 2 count. After Wahoo chops Tully again, JJ places Tully’s foot on the rope during the cover. With the referee distracted, JJ gives Tully an object, and he punches Wahoo in the face with it. Haha. However, Ron Garvin runs into the ring, and points out that Tully has something in his hand. So Tommy Young checks, sees Tully toss it over to JJ, and awards the match to Wahoo McDaniel.
Ron Garvin gets double teamed, given the SLINGSHOT SUPLEX by Tully, and is laid out in the middle of the ring. HAHA.
My Thoughts: The match was nothing special, but the finish was very nice. About time a face gets over in some fashion as opposed to the usual from this promotion. I know it seems like I always say that, but I always say it because it’s true! As a 10 minute TV match, it’s solid. **1/4.
The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) for the NWA World Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: My initial reaction is that I can’t believe this is on TV. Obviously, there’s a good reason for that, this is a hell of a match and great exposure for the company. I have no idea what is going to happen during it! The Midnight Express introduction is always great, but the Road Warriors is even better, as they enter to an epic pop and scare the Midnights out of the ring.
Match Review: Animal and Condrey will start the match, and it is going to start with Condrey running into Animal and falling down like he hit a brick wall. Animal lands a back elbow on Condrey to knock him out of the ring, and the crowd loved that as much as they did the challengers entrance. Animal runs over Condrey shortly after, and gives him a dropkick to knock him out of the ring yet again. Hawk enters the match now, and poses to the crowd’s delight. Haha. Condrey rakes the eyes to get control, and they do the Hawk no-sells a piledriver bit. I usually laugh like crazy at that one. LOOK AT THEM NECK MUSCLES.
After the commercial, it’s Hawk and Eaton in the ring now. Eaton takes a powder after an Irish whip, and that just causes Animal to press slam him into the ring. Then he gets clotheslined back out of the ring by heading over the top rope from Hawk, and clotheslined on the outside by Animal. Now that’s hard work. Both of the Express try to give Hawk wristlocks, and he knocks both of them down, then clotheslines them both. Well damn. Hawk gives Eaton a press slam, and tries to come off the top with something, but misses. That’s not good! Condrey heads over towards Hawk on the outside, and whacks Hawk with the TENNIS RACKET. Condrey gives Hawk a clothesline for 2, and continues to beat him up. Eaton tags in now, and distracts the referee so that Condrey can attack Hawk, and so that Cornette can hit Hawk with the racket again. Hawk comes back with a shoulderblock on Eaton, and finally makes it to his corner.
Animal comes in and lands a couple of dropkicks, and a big powerslam on Eaton. He follows that with a flying shoulderblock, but Condrey breaks up the cover and pandemonium ensues. Animal picks Eaton up, but Cornette hops in the ring and clocks Animal with the racket. That leads to the Express getting disqualified, but now Ellering chases Cornette around the ring until…Baby Doll comes out and punches Cornette in the face. The crowd goes bonkers for that, and Cornette has to be dragged to his feet by Big Bubba.
The Road Warriors, Baby Doll, and Paul Ellering cut a promo after the match, and after multiple paragraphs, we are done!
My Thoughts: So, about 10 minutes of action here. On cable TV. Huge for the time. This was a much better match than the last one, it was full of action, and gave off the belief that the titles would be changing. I had forgotten when they changed, so I was buying into it myself. As such, with a well paced match like this, and the post-match angle, I have to give it ***. And I’m going to slap the recommended tag on it due to the length and rarity of the match. Just search for it on YouTube. It’s there! The show closed with a clip of a bunkhouse match with Dusty & The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, facing Ole, Arn, and Ric Flair. Now that’s a real house show main event.
– August 10th, 1986, from the Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina
Jim Cornette interviews Baby Doll
First part of the video is all I care about. Big Bubba Rogers is there, standing tall, while Cornette says that Dusty must apologize to Cornette and Big Bubba. A crazy rant is what this is. Baby Doll nearly flubbs her lines, but Big Bubba is giving her the staredown of a lifetime, so I probably would too. Damn, when Baby Doll says she’s not apologizing, BIG BUBBA THROWS HER TO THE GROUND. Violence against women runs wild against Baby Doll, man. Dusty comes out to save his woman, and hits Big Bubba with a CHAIR. He no-sells it, and they do a big pull apart deal. Dusty is going fucking crazy, and Big Bubba looks like he has a mark on his eye which serves to highlight the “reality” of this situation. Another recommended segment.
– Taped to air August 16th, 1986, on Worldwide Wrestling, from the Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina
Match #6 of the Best of 7 Series for the United States Championship: Nikita Koloff (3) (w/Krusher Khruschev) vs. Magnum TA (2)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Finally another chance to dig in on this series. Initial reaction, from the match I watched before this, is that Magnum has a tough task ahead. Coming back from 3-0 is a tall order. Obviously, if Nikita wins another match, the series is over!
Match Review: Magnum quickly shoves Nikita into the corner at the beginning of the match, which is a bit surprising really. I thought they wouldn’t have Nikita be thrown around like that. Magnum dropkicks the big man out of the ring, and back in the ring, he tries an amateur style pin, which Nikita moves out of at 2. He also wrenches Nikita’s arm, and has it in a hammerlock. Nikita reaches the ropes, and they tumble out of the ring, where Magnum tosses Nikita into the ring post via his shoulder. Ow.
After the commercial, we come back with Dick Murdoch cutting a promo. FUCK THIS. I fast-forward, and Nikita has Magnum in a chinlock. Magnum rams Nikita into the turnbuckle to break free, and both men have arm injuries now. Nikita puts a COBRA CLUTCH on Magnum now, but Magnum fights out and rakes Nikita’s eyes after some time. Nikita gets up fairly quickly, and goes right back to work. He kicks Magnum to the outside, and messes Magnum’s throat up on the top rope when Magnum tries to come back in. Nikita covers for 2, and goes back to the chinlock. The crowd is heavily invested into this match, which continues with Nikita giving Magnum a LARIAT. He gives Magnum a back suplex now, and to be honest, I don’t think I’d want Nikita to be giving me that move.
After another commercial, we come back with Magnum giving Nikita a boot to the face. Nikita regains control and goes back to the chinlock, but Magnum fights out quickly and gives Nikita a back suplex of his own! Nikita isn’t hurt long-term by that, so he puts Magnum in a front face lock. These are restholds, but they fit Nikita’s gimmick, because he’s squeezing the life out of Magnum. Magnum picks Nikita up and drives him into the corner, then makes a cover, but can only get 2. Nikita goes right back to the same hold, but Magnum turns it into a suplex this time. The Hulk Hogan of the South is ready to make his charge, and he gives Nikita a big dropkick. Unfortunately, Khruschev distracts Magnum by placing Nikita’s foot on the bottom rope during a pin, so after Nikita recovers, he gives Magnum a knee to the back. That knocks Tommy Young out of the ring, and Nikita gives Magnum the RUSSIAN SICKLE. Nobody can count his pin, and in any case, Magnum’s foot is outside of the ring. Unfortunately, some moron of a referee runs into the ring and counts the pin, and the crowd goes crazy at the realization that Magnum has lost the match. I mean, completely crazy.
Fortunately, Tommy Young is there, and he says that Magnum could not be pinned as his foot was outside of the ring. So the match continues! The crowd goes absolutely insane at Nikita being forced to stop his celebration with the US belt, and Magnum reaches his feet. He gives Nikita the BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX, TOMMY YOUNG COUNTS THE COVER, AND MAGNUM TA WINS IT, TYING THE SERIES AT 3-3! I don’t have a time, but that was around 14 minutes.
My Thoughts: That was most certainly one of the loudest pops that I have ever heard at the end of a wrestling match. A Mankind winning the title for the first time level pop. The match was really well built although quite basic in some senses, but the finish was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. Dusty fell into the same patterns more and more over time, but this man knows how to book a controversial finish, that’s for sure. I think this is a *** match with a ***** ending. Firing on all cylinders booking wise is one way to put it, that’s for sure. Recommended for the finish. It isn’t that hard to find.
– August 16th, 1986, on World Championship Wrestling, from WTBS Studios in Atlanta, Georgia
Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair Highlights…
I linked a different clip, one from YouTube that I could put in the article. Anyway, as everyone knows, Dusty is the champion after the Great American Bash Tour, but Flair has…other ideas. This match takes place in St. Louis, and Flair clips a previously injured Dusty from behind. He holds him in the FIGURE-FOUR for minutes and minutes, until Dusty’s shoulders hit the canvas and he loses via pinfall. So, our new champion, Ric Flair! Back to the way things were before the tour started, status quo resumed.
– August 16th, 1986, from the Civic Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the NWA World Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the first FAN CAM match I’ll be reviewing. Obviously, there’s a good reason for doing so, and that will be kept quiet until later. Fortunately, the fan cam does not dilute Cornette’s introduction of the Midnight Express at all. Even in not the South, all the participants are very much over, if you will. This is a very different way to watch a match, one I’m not used to. I’m heavily anticipating it even still.
Fall #1: Cornette gets a lot of heat by hugging Eaton at the start of this fall, and it will be Morton and Eaton to start the match. They lock up and struggle with each other, which Morton gets the better of by giving Eaton an arm drag. Eaton then applies a wristlock next time, only for Morton to do the same thing. The third time, Eaton makes sure to punch Morton in the mouth. He tags in Condrey, but they accidentally run into each other, and Morton gives Condrey an atomic drop to send him into the turnbuckle. IN comes Gibson, who ties up Condrey so that Morton can punch him. Morton tags back in, and they go to work on Condrey’s left arm. The announcer says that five minutes have elapsed, cool. Morton takes the opportunity to give Condrey a couple atomic drops in a row, which was a good comedy spot to make the people happy. Gibson tags in, and Condrey quickly grabs hold and takes him to the corner, only for Eaton to tag in and get the hell beaten out of him. Morton makes the tag, climbs to the second rope, and punches Eaton in the face. He tries a backdrop next, but Eaton catches him with an elbow and tags out. Condrey slams Morton, drops an elbow, and covers for 2. They then drop Morton throat first on the top rope, with Eaton tagging in, and he covers for 2. Condrey tags back in and puts Morton in an abdominal stretch, then behind the referee’s back, Eaton comes in with a shot off the top to Morton’s head. That gets 2, and Eaton follows with a backbreaker that also gets a 2 count. Eaton is so good in pretty much every way as a wrestler. Next up is a single-arm DDT, and a tag to Condrey, who puts Morton in a hammerlock. Eaton tags in after that, and hits Morton from behind. He then sends Morton’s head HARD into the turnbuckle, but tries a charge to the corner and gets hit with a back elbow. Morton finally makes the tag to Gibson, and he’s a house of fire. He beats up the Midnight’s quite a lot, and Eaton tries to go for a backdrop, but Gibson thinks quickly on his feet and cradles Eaton up for the pinfall at 10:30. That was a great finish.
Fall #2: Obviously the Midnight Express is pissed. Eaton and Gibson start the next fall of course, with Condrey quickly tagging in and getting beaten up. That didn’t take long! Condrey throws Gibson into the corner, and Gibson tries a flying bodypress, but he misses. Instead, he rolls Condrey up, but Eaton breaks up the cover. Condrey throws Gibson into the ropes again, and this time Eaton pulls down the top rope, causing Gibson to fly over it to the floor. Eaton tosses him back in to Condrey, who gives him a backbreaker…and then another one. He covers and gets the pinfall at 1:29. We’re all even. Cornette blows kisses at the fans after that, haha, what a loser.
Fall #3: Condrey rushes over at the beginning of the fall and absolutely clobbers Gibson to the fans horror. He and Eaton put the boots to him as the referee is distracted, and Condrey chokes Gibson with some tape from his ribs. After a bodyslam, Eaton tags in, and gives Gibson a big backdrop. He puts Gibson in a chinlock, and we sit in that for a bit until Condrey tags in, and it’s time for a double team. Condrey gives Gibson a powerslam, and Eaton follows with a ROCKET LAUNCHER BAH GAWD HOW IS THIS NOT OVER. What a double team! Condrey covers, but Morton breaks it up. That was a death blow finisher too. Condrey puts a bear hug on Gibson, and drives him into the corner to tag in Eaton. Eaton heads up top, and lands a huge elbow drop. My GOD. Condrey tags in now, and drops a knee for 2. Gibson tries fighting back, and does, by hitting Condrey in the chest with a knee. Can he get to his corner? YES. Morton tags in, and cleans house. Condrey tries a suplex, but Morton gives him one of his own. Up top he goes, and he lands the big missile dropkick. Gibson rushes in to keep Eaton from breaking up the cover, and some shit’s gotta happen, right? Eaton eventually takes advantage of some bad officiating, and comes off the top rope with a fist drop onto Morton. Gibson keeps the referee from counting the pinfall as Eaton is not the legal man, and Condrey knocks Morton out of the ring with a hard knee. They double team Gibson for a bit, and Condrey tries to suplex Morton into the ring. When he does, Morton turns it into a pin, and gets the victory for the RnR’s at 6:13! They are, for the third time, the NWA Tag Team Champions!
Cornette throws a tantrum after the match, which just caps off the whole thing. I LOVED IT.
My Thoughts: I’m just going to drop a stream of thoughts here, because that was so good. The first thing to mention was the structure of the match. The babyface winning the first fall was a bit different to me. I think it set things up for the match to be a great one, and for the Midnight Express to claw their way back. The second fall was perfectly done. Short and to the point. The first and third were outstanding. Doing a title change on a show like this is perfect timing as well. It’s outside of their core area, and the match was so good that people would just have to come back for more. How could they not? I loved the attempts to kill Gibson later in the match. It made the whole thing seem like a major deal, and added that epic feel. I find that lacking from today’s wrestling at times. ****1/4 and highly recommended for an outstanding match. Obviously this was a big day for wrestling.
– Taped to air August 23rd, 1986, on Worldwide Wrestling, from Charlotte Coliseum, in Charlotte, North Carolina
The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express for the NWA World Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: Yes, we really keep going like that from week to week. The caliber of TV matches is UNREAL. How can any company keep going like that? I guess we’ll find out because I really don’t know. I hope that there’s some 1987 TV kicking around out there because I need it. The Midnight Express have one of the most baller-est themes I’ve ever heard. Yep, that’s a word now. Baller-est. The crowd goes nuts for the RnR’s entry, and guess what, they’re the NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS PARTNER. The cops escorting them to the ring look happy, how often do you see that? What a company. Gibson still has his ribs taped, as he did for the title match, but this is the way to put a return match on, that’s for sure. Did the crowd even know that they were the champions before this? I doubt it!
Match Review: The match starts with Eaton driving Morton into the corner, which isn’t too bad an idea. He throws Morton into the turnbuckle, and gives him a couple shoulderblocks. Morton responds with a monkey flip, and Eaton plays pinball over in his opponents corner to a large crowd reaction. Condrey comes in now, as David Crockett runs down what’s going to be on this show. That’s right, Nikita vs. Magnum. The decider. Condrey tries to give Morton a piledriver and gets backdropped, as we head out to commercial with Morton beating up Eaton and Condrey.
We’re back with Morton continuing to work over Beautiful Bobby. Eaton replies with a HUGE throw of Morton’s face into the top turnbuckle, and Condrey comes in to give Morton a backbreaker. Cover gets 2. The referee gets distracted by Condrey, and during that, Eaton flies in off the top rope with an attack on Morton. Condrey hits Morton with a shot to the throat and tags out, so Eaton gives him another backbreaker. A backbreaker into a powerslam at that. They tag again, and Condrey gives Morton a hotshot. Once again the referee is distracted, so Cornette hits Morton right in the eye with the tennis racket. Morton sells it like he’s the best seller in wrestling (which he is), but a cover only gets 2. Condrey is pissed, so he slugs Morton in the eye, but Morton puts a SLEEPER on him. Eaton comes in with a shot from behind, and now things break down. Gibson and Eaton are fighting on the outside, and Morton rolls Condrey up…but Cornette runs in and clocks Morton with the tennis racket. Obviously, Tommy Young saw that, and that got the Midnight Express disqualified. About 7 more minutes of wrestling greatness.
My Thoughts: The length and quality of the match was no surprise, they can pack 20 minutes into 10 easily. This is in many ways the perfect tag team matchup. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t do it with each other for any longer, but shelf-life is limited I suppose, and the combination was starting to run out of things to do together. Even still, it doesn’t seem right that they never faced each other in a straight wrestling match on a Starrcade. ***1/4 and you might as well check it out because of the length. The stream of greatness coming out of this promotion is hard to believe.
Match #7 of the Best of 7 Series for the United States Championship: Nikita Koloff (3) (w/Ivan Koloff) vs. Magnum TA (3)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Well, this is really it. The deciding match, which I’ve never seen, is finally here. Honestly, I would have been happy to just make it to this point when starting these reviews. I’m going to keep going, but I think I’ve accomplished one of many goals that I have had while doing this. This is a huge match to put on TV in this era, but completely necessary to put on TV. To me, this series has been perfectly booked. Will that continue?
Match Review: They lock up, and this time, neither man can push the other. How could anyone be rooting for that commie Nikita, as David Crockett suggests people are? Magnum lands a cross-body for 2, and dropkicks Nikita right over the top rope. Of course that’s not going to be a DQ. He didn’t throw him over the top! Magnum has a hammerlock on Nikita, and the crowd is beyond the point of heated now. They’re rabidly cheering every knee, every punch, every hold. Magnum tries an amateur style cover on Nikita much like in the last match, but Nikita powers out of course. They roll out of the ring again, and this time, Nikita gets thrown into the ring post again! Magnum heads up top, and gives Nikita a double axehandle back in the ring. Cover gets 2 as Tommy Young is a bit delayed in his reaction. Magnum gives Nikita an arm drag now, and bars that arm up. Nikita powers him over to the corner and repeatedly shoulder-charges into Magnum, but he misses a charge to the corner from further away and we go to commercial.
We come back with Magnum missing a cross-body attempt, and flying out of the ring. Nikita walks out there, and rams his back into the ring apron. That seems like something that would hurt if it happened for real. Nikita chokes Magnum using the top rope, then clubs him in the back. He drives Magnum into the corner yet again, and it looks like the commie is finally going to win the US Title. Nikita slams Magnum, and shows off his muscles, before dropping an elbow on Magnum’s back. He covers, and gets 2. Nikita locks in a BEAR HUG, and squeezes poor Magnum. What will happen? I do not yet know. Magnum will not quit, of course. He’s AMERICAN THROUGH AND THROUGH. He breaks free of the bear hug, and tries a sunset flip, only to get punched by Nikita. A cover gets 2, but people really thought that was the end. Back to the bear hug we go, but Magnum gives Nikita a hip-toss. He sells the back injury, but tries his best anyway as the crowd is going insane. He gives Nikita a dropkick and tries a cover, but Ivan grabs his hair. So Magnum walks to the outside, and PILEDRIVES THAT OLD COMMIE FUCKER RIGHT ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR. Ivan Koloff, you are the man for taking that one. That RULED. You fuck with Magnum, you get got. Magnum beats up Nikita now, and Krusher Khruschev heads down to the ring. That is not good news. After Magnum gives Nikita the BELLY TO BELLY, Tommy Young can’t count the pin because Krusher is on the apron. David Crockett is going absolutely crazy during this, and Magnum gets distracted, so Nikita grabs his RUSSIAN CHAIN. Up to the second rope he goes, and he catapults himself into Magnum with a CHAIN CLOTHESLINE. Tommy counts, 1-2-3…and Nikita gets the victory and US Championship at 12:10. WOW. David Crockett is just absolutely distraught, and the crowd has been shocked into silence.
My Thoughts: This was a more sprinty version of Match #6, but that was to its great benefit in some cases. Just…what an everything. The occasion was absolutely spectacular. The crowd was on fire, in the palm of their hands. They could have done anything and the crowd would have ate it up. Instead they did what I thought was better than their last match. Sped up the initial arm work, and started going after each other quickly after that. The great piledriver spot takes this up a few marks, but it would have been a strong match in any case. It’s hard not to overrate something based on the body of the feud, and what happened, but I think this is a very strong ***1/2 match with amazing booking. Of course, it is recommended, and due to the finish, I think I had more fun watching this than any singles match I can recall from the company in this year. Aesthetically it wasn’t the best, but sometimes things trump that, much like with Hogan vs. Warrior. This match really meant a lot.
– Taped to air August 23rd, 1986, on NWA Pro, from Charlotte Coliseum, in Charlotte, North Carolina
Dusty Rhodes (w/Baby Doll) vs. Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Return match from St. Louis, and it’s on TV. Now, why would it be on TV? That’s a bit strange, ain’t it? This is the feud that never ends, but surprisingly, it is getting very close to its end. Or does it just seem that way? In any case, the time for Flair to move on is rapidly approaching. Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver will be our announcers for this one.
Match Review: The crowd is absolutely on fire as an increasingly larger Dusty poses in the corner. Then he gives Flair a press slam, and beats him up with some punches and the BIG DUSTY ELBOWS. This is starting much better than their other matches in my opinion. After a shot to the eyes, Flair bails out. I guess he’s hurt. Dusty gets the better of another exchange, no surprise there, and he gives Flair a hip-toss. Flair goes after Dusty’s injured knee now, with a kick right to it. Well, ouch. Baby Doll comes over to try to help, and Dusty takes a walk to try getting that knee working right, but Flair pulls him back into the ring. Of course Dusty no-sells for him once again, and Dusty lands a running elbow on the champion. Dusty follows with an elbow drop and that gets 2, and Flair bumps for pretty much everyone now, including the referee. He runs out of the ring into the crowd, taking his time. Of course he comes back in and Dusty beats him up again, with a 10 punch combo in the corner. Flair is giving him like, literally 99% of the offense to this point. After a poke to the eye by Flair, he finally does something, and that’s punch Dusty. But Dusty no-sells, and elbows Flair until he flies over the top rope to the floor. Flair comes back in and puts a sleeper on Dusty, will he finally be able to hold that offense for any amount of time? The answer is no, because Dusty charges towards the corner, ducks down, and Flair’s head goes into the turnbuckle. Then Dusty slams Flair down from the top rope, and goes for the FIGURE-FOUR, which he locks in. Nearly everyone in the crowd thinks that Dusty is going to win the title again, but Flair reaches the ropes. If I didn’t know better…I would have considered it. To the commercial we go.
Back from said commercial, and Flair has broken the hold by hitting Dusty in his weak knee. Flair drags Dusty over to the ropes, and stomps on that knee as best he can. About time! Flair goes for a figure-four of his own, but Dusty kicks out of that, and knocks Flair over the top rope yet again. This time, Flair pulls him to the outside, and gets his head rammed into the ring post. Dusty punches him over in the corner again, and tosses him into the turnbuckle, which causes Flair to fly over to the apron. Flair is bleeding of course after the post shot, and he gets suplexed back into the ring, but only for 2. Dusty hits Flair with a big clothesline, and is this the end now…no. WHAT THE FUCK. Baby Doll just put Flair’s foot on the ropes. WHAT? She nearly missed her cue, but I’m in shock after that. I had forgotten ALL ABOUT this (my pre-match thoughts were written after watching, I cheated), and Flair now goes to work on Dusty. Into the FIGURE-FOUR we go, and this has to be the end, no? Dusty tries to reverse it, but Baby Doll walks over and helps Flair so that it isn’t reversed. Wow! Dusty reverses it anyway, but he’s so upset now. Flair clips Dusty from behind, and tries for the figure-four yet again, but Flair gets kicked into Tommy Young. Dusty lands a big clothesline on Flair now, but there’s nobody to count, so…Baby Doll grabs a chair. She comes in the ring, tries to hit Dusty with a chair, and Dusty grabs said chair. He walks over to Flair and destroys him with the chair, which Tommy Young obviously sees and disqualifies Dusty for at 15:33.
Unfortunately for Dusty, Tully Blanchard runs into the ring, knees Dusty in the back, and absolutely ruins him with the chair until Magnum TA and company can run out to save Dusty. With beer flying everywhere, Tully, Flair, and Baby Doll celebrate on the outside of the ring, job done. WHAT THE FUCK.
My Thoughts: I do not understand what just happened. At all. Obviously, I know that Baby Doll turned on Dusty. But it does not make any sense to me now, and probably didn’t at the time. I know this character change just about killed her dead, and I don’t see why it was needed at all. Still though, booking. Dusty has these ideas, plans for everything and everyone, and executes them extremely well. For now. In the moment, these decisions make a lot of sense. Over time that remains to be seen. I also know that Baby Doll was basically exiled to Central States after this, so maybe this was Dusty’s way of getting revenge at her over personal things. Who knows. As for the match, it was very much among the better of the matches between these two. Probably better than the cage match as well, even considering the finish. So, ***1/2 here, and I doubt very strongly the combination of the two can go any higher, but hopefully they move on from this feud and I don’t have to find out.
Before heading into the recap, there are some things that need to be summed up. Wahoo McDaniel beat Tully Blanchard for the National Heavyweight Championship over in Los Angeles. On August 30th, that is announced, as well as Jim Crockett announcing that we are going to have a tournament for some United States Tag Team Championships. I’m down with that! Dutch Mantell and Bobby Jaggers have shown up as the Kansas Jayhawks. I’m good with that too. And Jimmy Garvin is starting to heat up. Hopefully I’ll be able to get something in with him involved soon.
Obviously those two months were absolutely spectacular. It’s hard to put into words how good I thought they were, but I can say that I motored through all but two of the matches reviewed in one night. That is a testament to how good this stuff was. I never, ever do all of an article in one sitting. I nearly did here. I defy anyone to go find two months of wrestling that are better than these. Consider that the Great American Bash tour stuff, which was already reviewed, happened during that period too! One thing that was great about these matches which was easy to overlook, is that they showed that the business was transitioning into a more athletic in-ring product. That ultimately helped the legitimacy of the business, increased fan enjoyment, and led to a product that was easier for people to watch years and years later. Nikita should be a great United States Champion, and it will be interesting to see who chases him. And who Dusty is going to chase. All that stuff is interesting going forward, because it’s obviously time to move on from some things. Regardless, what fun this was. Next up is going to be an article that’s a bit easier for me to put together, which is September 1986 in the WWF. I need it to be easier to get my plans in order for the next few months worth of articles. Be sure to check in next time!
Best: Rock ‘n’ Roll Express wins the Tag Team Championships from Midnight Express. Yes, this was absolutely spectacular. And you should watch it, even though it’s a fan cam.
Worst: Uh…that’s not very fair. It’s hard to pick something from this company that turns out to be less than expected, or bad. I guess Baby Doll’s heel turn would count as the worst thing on here. It was short-sighted, probably petty, and unnecessary.
